Combining files automatically merge as a Portfolio!?!?

[Becki@BurkeNC]

In the past couple of months, everytime I try to combine 2 or more PDFs into 1 PDF, Acrobat is pulling/merging it as a Portfolio!?!?!? I do not want this & don't understand how or what changed.  I have Acrobat Pro DC.  Help!  Does anyone know how to fix this?

Thanks.

[Meenakshi Negi · Accepted solution]

Hi Becki,

Thank you for reaching out.

Please use the following steps to disable the creation of a Portfolio:

1. In Acrobat, go to Tools > Combine Files. 

2. Click on Options in the Combine Files window.

3. Uncheck the Save as PDF portfolio box and click on the OK button to save the changes.

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Becki@BurkeNC]

Thank you so much!!  That was too easy once I was told there is an options box in the Combine files.  Not sure how it got checked, but all should be good for me now!!  🙂

[Meenakshi Negi]

That's great! Glad to know that the steps suggested resolved the issue.

Let us know if we can be of any further help.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[jo_7292]

Me too! Thank you. I wish that hadn't become the default out of the blue, but hopefully I won't have to change it every time. We will see. Thank you!

[Mando32119148adke]

Hello Team,

What if this does not work, and we still get the following:

I used to be able to Combine many liked PDF's before without an issue. Is there a way to turn this function off? We use Adobe 2020

[default7j7aem9zsr30]

I just started having problems combining. I want to make a single document by combining multiple pdfs.  - not a portfolio. But now forms automatically merge and ruin the document. What is a solution?

[roxy_4133]

OMG thank you so much, this was driving me nuts! I did what you said and it started working fine. I don't even know how that box got checked, maybe after an update?? Who knows, I'm just glad it's fixed!

[Avi@GewirtzNYNJ]

That was very helpful as I couln't fathom why it was saving it as separate images. Thanks!

[tvjake2]

Unchecking the protfolio box DID NOT HELP. It still want sto make a portfolio. This is maddening. Why did you enable this stupid function.????????????????????

[zeyn_5429]

I am getting this too.  I have to uncheck the box everytime.  Very irritating.

[GoHawks]

Adobe please for the love of everything holy....STOP messing with our settings.  If you add stuff (which most daily users won't use) let us enable it...not auto enable and then we have to figure out how to fix your mistakes!!!  Thanks!!!

[theo-dmu]

Sorry, this is not working for me. When i uncheck the 'save as portfolio' the 'Combine' button greys out and i cannot combine. Any thoughts?

[AnandSri]

Hello @theo-dmu

I hope you are doing well, and we are sorry for the trouble you had.

Could you please share more details about the issue? Is it happening with all the PDFs, or is it specific to one set of PDFs? Are you on a Mac or Windows machine, and what is the version? Please ensure you have the latest version of Acrobat installed on the machine: 25.001.20630 Planned update, Aug 18, 2025. Check for any pending updates from the Menu > help > check for updates, install the updates, restart the app and the machine, and try again.

Check file compatibility:

• Ensure all files are PDFs, Word, Excel, or image files. Some formats like .msg (Outlook email), .zip, or certain encrypted PDFs can't be merged as a single PDF.

• Try combining fewer files first:

  • Remove all files and try combining just two known-good PDFs.

  • If successful, gradually add the rest to isolate any problematic file.

• Convert non-PDFs to PDF first:

  • Use Menu > Create > PDF from File to convert Word, Excel, or images individually.

  • Then use Combine Files with only PDF inputs.

If needed, re-enable ‘Save as Portfolio’:

• While portfolios are not a single merged PDF, they allow incompatible files to be grouped.

• You can use this to identify which file(s) are causing the merge to fail.

If the issue continues, please provide the following information: the current version of the operating system on your device, a quick screen recording of the issue, sample PDF files, and the logs from the affected machine. To collect the logs, download and run the Log Collector tool. Make sure to select all log options and attempt to reproduce the issue. After that, close the Log Collector tool; it will generate the logs along with a log ID. Please share this log ID with us for further investigation.

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

[theo-dmu]

Hi, I think I'm good now. I found out that it has something to do with the nature of the files that I am trying to combine. It is a pdf output from a scan.  The problem arises when the scanned document goes directly to onedrive, whereas there is no nproblem when I scan into dropbox or to my email. I will investigate the onedrive issue some other time.

[shahamir13]

Hi Adobe, please don't be aggressive and don't impose your preferred saving style on your customers. They have brains, they can think, they are all mostly highly educated, and they know what they want and need. DON'T CHANGE THE DEFAULT BEHAVIOR OF YOUR SOFTWARE ON THEIR BEHALF.

sincerely

[AnandSri]

Hi,

I hope you're doing well. Apologies for the delayed response and trouble.

Could you please share more details about the issue? Are you not able to combine files using Acrobat? We're here to help, just need more info.

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

[tvjake2]

I'm using forms to fill out info and Adobe keeps combining all my forms into one fecking form. STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[atelier.mejia.waelz]

USELESS!!!